Jimmy is an experienced player who has been playing the Pokémon TCG since its release. In addition to many tournament wins, he took 4th at the 2008 World Championships.

I had a great time at Regionals this weekend even if I didn’t perform as well as I had hoped to. TJ Collectibles ran a top notch event. I’m going to be talking about Regionals in two parts; the first part will be about it as a competitive happening.

This is what the Top 32 (of 132) looked like, including who played what:

Standing

Name

Swiss Wins

Losses

Deck

1

Sam Chen

7

1

Yanmega/Magnezone

2

Aziz Al-Yami

7

1

Yanmega/Magnezone

3

Dylan Lefavour

7

1

Typhlosion/Reshiram

4

Edwin Lopez

7

1

Emboar/Reshiram

5

Thomas Masse Jr.

7

1

Emboar/Reshiram

6

Michael Skoran

7

1

The Truth

7

Gary Lawson

6

2

Gengar/Vileplume

8

Brandon Morris

6

2

Donphan/Zoroark/Cinccino/Yanmega

9

Nick Chimento

6

2

Absol/Zoroark/Yanmega/Weavile

10

Andrew Kolbert

6

2

Typhlosion/Reshiram

11

Guillaume Levesque-Suave

6

2

ZPST

12

Vikas Parmar

6

2

Donphan/Zoroark/Reshiram/Zekrom

13

Frank Diaz

6

2

ZPST

14

Jeremy Jones

6

2

Typhlosion/Reshiram

15

Johnny Chimento

6

2

Gothitelle

16

Jonathan Paranada

6

2

ZPST

17

Brian Garcia

6

2

Emboar/Reshiram

18

Christian Ortiz

6

2

Mew/Donphan/Yanmega/Basculin

19

Alex Frezza

5

3

Yanmega/Magnezone

20

Frankie Durso

5

3

Gothitelle

21

Rob Weidemann

5

3

Typhlosion/Reshiram

22

John Conti

5

3

ZPST

23

Ray Cipoletti

5

3

Typhlosion/Reshiram

24

Jennifer Badamo

5

3

Gothitelle

25

Andy Kay

5

3

Kingdra/Cinccino

26

Geoffrey Graves

5

3

ZPST

27

Darrell Moreno

5

3

Yanmega/Magnezone

28

Gino Lombardi

5

3

ZPST

29

Azul Garcia Griego

5

3

ZPST

30

Frank LaSalle Sr.

5

3

Yanmega/Magnezone

31

Justin Bokhari

5

3

Typhlosion/Reshiram

32

Michael Bergerac

5

3

Emboar/Magnezone

These were the final records for each deck:

Deck

Quantity

Wins

Losses

Win %

ZPST

7

38

18

68%

Typhlosion/Reshiram

6

34

14

71%

Yanmega/Magnezone

5

29

11

73%

Gothitelle

4

23

9

72%

Emboar/Reshiram

2

13

3

81%

The Truth

1

7

1

88%

Gengar/Vileplume

1

6

2

75%

Donphan/Zoroark/Cinccino/Yanmega

1

6

2

75%

Absol/Zoroark/Yanmega/Weavile

1

6

2

75%

Donphan/Zoroark/Reshiram/Zekrom

1

6

2

75%

Mew/Donphan/Yanmega/Basculin

1

6

2

75%

Kingdra/Cinccino

1

5

3

63%

Emboar/Magnezone

1

5

3

63%

The top three decks were Prime Time, Reshiphlosion, and ZPST. There were six Trainer lock decks as well, but I didn’t want to skew analysis by combining too many different decks; the same could be said of the four decks that emphasized various Stage 1 Pokémon. This only covers Swiss wins and losses, but I still thought it was interesting to look at how the different decks performed. Other than decks that squeaked in at a single copy going 5-3, you’ll see ZPST having the lowest win percentage. If one piece of data made me glad I didn’t play that deck, it had to be this one. Quirky note: Brian Garcia filled out his decklist incorrectly and was forced to remove his Reshirams from his deck – and still made cut.

If you’re wondering how the decks that are laundry lists of Pokémon did well, I would attribute it to a few factors. These players played well; they weren’t the skill level of someone new at league with all of their favorite characters. Less experienced players, even ones with above average decklists, were unprepared for what these strange decks might do. There is, has been, and will be a lot of variance and random chance in Pokémon, so while one of these decks might have even been the best deck at the event, there are no guarantees; no one definitely makes or misses cut.

While I don’t have a bracket, it is worth noting what the Top 4 was like: 3 Prime Times (Sam, Aziz, and Alex) and a Reshiphlosion (Rob). Alex defeated Sam in the finals.

I plan on following up this “tournament perspective” with an “experience perspective” piece.

The percentages are a really shallow way of analyzing the data. This only takes into consideration the people who got to the top cut while mindlessly ignoring the true data of win percentage. For example: sure there were a couple people that did well than TyRam, but that doesn’t mean it necessarily did better percentage wise ZPST or Prime Time, since it does not truly reflect win percentage. I am sure for every 5-3 Tyram there is probably a 3-5 one keeping it company.

Andrew, I don’t see ignoring players who missed cut as ‘mindless’, more than anything it is a practical concern. I simply can’t process every match result in great detail, nor every player’s day. The people who make cut, on average, are playing with more skill than those who did not. Unskilled results with a great list (the hypothetical 3-5 TyRam player you are certain exists… without attending my event) shouldn’t speak against players who played well and worked hard. If you’re interested in some deeper data, take a look at the link Christian posted below for something interesting to think about.

I am really happy. First my cousin becomes the 2010-2011 New York state champion then to Top 32 at 2011 pokemon nationals and then he gets 6th place at regional’s. Considering it is only his second season of being in Pokemon TCG.